In this review, we complete the next contract in the GameCube game XGRA: Extreme G Racing Association. We find out how well this racing game plays.
This game was released in 2003 and would ultimately be the last in the series.
We have quite a bit of knowledge of this racing series. We first played the original Extreme-G. That game wound up being a great game. After that, we skipped ahead a bit and played XGIII. That game ended up being OK, but nothing huge. Still, we figured there was no harm in playing the last game in the series to see how it ended.
The game takes place in 2080 where there is a new season of extreme racing. Your selected racer is amongst a contingent of racers hoping to gain the attention of various racing teams for the next season. So, you partake in the invitational qualifiers and try your luck.
Initially, you only have one bike to choose from. These bikes are the worst in the entire game. The only fortunate thing about this arrangement is that everyone in the race has the exact same bike. As a result, everyone is on even footing. Additionally, there are no weapons to be had in this first season which ultimately simplifies things by quite a bit. The higher up the ranks you go, the more points you get. So, focusing on getting the most points you can is your ultimate goal over the small race series.
After the invitational races, this is where the full contingent of features largely becomes visible. You have your primary weapon which you can use to pelt opponents for minor amounts of damage. If at any point in the race you take out an enemy, you get an in-race upgrade where your primary weapon becomes more powerful. Early on in the game, this is a difficult proposition to pull off, but in later races, there are strategies you can form to go for that kill.
Along with this, you have a secondary weapon. This system has been revamped over the previous game. There are weapon icons you collect on the race track. As you collect them, you’ll move up the scale to get even more powerful weapons. Press “B” to select a weapon once you got what you wanted and press “B” again to execute. You start off with a small number of weapons in the beginning, but there is the possibility to earn extra weapons. This is very similar to the weapon/upgrade system found in Cobra Triangle or a Gradius game.
While racing to get first is generally a top priority, you’ll also have the addition of contracts to fulfil. What those contracts are depends on the team you’ve selected for the series. Some teams have easier contracts while others have harder contracts. This is displayed in the upper right hand corner.
These contracts really do range in difficulty. Sometimes, it’s as easy as beating one other bike in the race (basically, don’t come in last). Others can be a bit more tricky such as killing a particular opponent. Still, the more you complete, the more in-game bonuses you obtain, so it’s usually a good idea to try and fulfill as many contracts as possible early on as you go along to make later races a bit easier on you.
Initially, contracts can award you three different things: gallery and concept art, increased regeneration, and the unlocking of the next weapon. Eventually, you’ll unlock all the gallery bonuses, reducing you to just weapons upgrades and better regeneration. After you’ve unlocked all of your weapons, all you’ll get is energy regeneration upgrades.
The secondary weapons are quite varied. The initial weapon is the vampyre. This will sap opponents directly in front of you of energy (both shields and weapons). It can also slow opponents as well. This is a great way to restore your shield strength and weaponry should you start running low. It also only costs a mere 1 icon to get on top of it all.
The second weapon is mines. Early on in the game, this is excellent to use when you take the lead. It helps you add distance over the competition as they generally slow your opponents. In some cases, you might even get lucky and take out a weakened enemy while you are at it. At the cost of two icons, it’s more than possible to spam this weapon throughout the race. By the next lap, the mines will be gone anyway.
Third on the list is the accelerator. As your opponents start to get good, this is probably a major weapon of choice. This is because you gain additional speed. Combining this with the speed strips is an excellent way to gain on your opponents or pad your overall lead. At three tokens, you can easily get this frequently to help you nab first place.
If you are a champion of contract completion, you’ll eventually unlock the last secondary weapon in the game: deathstrike. This weapon locks on to your nearest opponent in your field of view and instantly kills that opponent. With a cost of 10 icons, you have to dedicate a good portion of the race to collect these. However, it is generally worth it for contracts requiring you to take out either a number of opponents or a specific opponent. While not very imaginative, it gets the job done.
In addition to this, during the races, you have a few things to contend with. Speed strips appear throughout the race in a surprising large quantity. Use these to gain boosts of speed. Faster bikes will also break the sound barrier if you hit these well enough (even more likely with an accelerator).
You’ll also have to deal with opponents firepower. They will also be able to collect those icons right out from under you and use the additional firepower on you. So, watch your shield strength. Also note that you can only fire one special weapon at a time. So, if you have temporary invincibility, you can’t quickly collect three icons and use an accelerator at the same time. You simply have to wait for the weapon to be depleted before you can fire the next weapon.
Your primary weapon will also gradually recharge. How quickly depends entirely on how many contracts you’ve completed up to that point. Still, it’s something to keep in mind as you race because depleting them will mean you have one less weapon to use on your opponents for a period of time.
At the end of the race, you’ll be given championship points. Championship points will dictate how well you do in each series.
Championship points also have the secondary function of being cumulative throughout your entire career. The more points you earn, the better chances you have to gain enough points to advance to the next class. So, if you’ve managed to be unbeatable in a championship, keep earning those points to get those next classes unlocked in the process. Generally, it’s quite easy to obtain enough if you regularly win races, but even if you finish in 4th place from time to time, you’ll still likely earn enough to get into the next class. Also note that kills will earn you bonus points as well.
In total, there are four classes: Invitational Class, Subsonic Class, Sonic Class, Supersonic Class, and Ultrasonic Class. As you progress to the next class, you’ll unlock a more powerful version of each team bike. Note that you can switch teams between each class, but you are stuck with that team within the class.
On a side note, there are different types of races you’ll encounter. This includes the normal “burn off” race where general rules of the race apply. Alternate rules include Peacekeeper (no weapons), speed limited (all speed boosts including the speed powerup have been disabled), and endurance (an extra lap is added). This can greatly impact your strategy for the race as a whole. All this information of alterations to the race will be given prior to each race.
If you earn enough championship points by the end of the whole series, you’ll beat the game. For your hard work, you’ll have a shot at unlocking the sole super bike team as well.
Generally speaking, I wasn’t exactly sure about this instalment in the early races. It seemed like such a slow game because everything was so slow. I did find myself asking “this is an Extreme G game?” However, as I got to the later races, those slow races were actually more about getting a better handle of the bikes more than anything else. This game can get so blindingly fast, you’ll have almost no reaction time to handle the corners at times. This game generally gradually moves from one extreme to another and, overall, it actually works quite well even if it doesn’t leave the best first impression.
Additionally, this game really focuses on your ability to hit the speed strips and avoid walls. The more you can avoid the walls (or reduce your impact), the better your overall race performance. If you are hitting pretty much every speed strip, you have a very good shot at capturing that checkered flag first. The combat and contracts simply serve to spice up the action by giving you additional objectives and things to do as you race along.
While you do end up playing tracks multiple times, there are some subtle alternative routs as well. This does add to the variety in addition to the gradually increased speed and difficulty.
Probably one of the complaints I’d have about this game is that this is a very linear game. You simply take each track and race series one at a time and work your way down the list. In addition to this, there are no real secondary modes to play in that are really all that noteworthy – just single races for the most part. I would have liked to see something more to add to the overall variety much like the earlier instalments that featured things like target practice or combat modes. The way this game is now is a fairly stripped down version of this game.
While the progression of bike performance is good, I would have liked to have seen more abilities to enhance the bikes outside of a few sliders. The progression in performance is good, but it seems like a very bare-bones style of racing. Many other racing games allow you to unlock new parts and features, yet this game simply goes with a very simple approach.
The length is quite decent and the tracks are great. The tracks themselves have that roller-coaster sci-fi feel that really gave this game such a nice take on the racing genre. Ultimately, the track design really does do this franchise justice in the end.
Generally speaking, this is a pretty good, even if a bit bare bones game. There is largely just core mechanics, but what core mechanics there are here is very solid. The track design works quite well and the additional contracts work well to spice up races even further over top of the weapon system. It earns a nice thumbs up from me.
Graphically speaking, this is a very solid effort. There are a lot of nice features and effects thrown onto the tracks. The bikes themselves are decent and the cutscenes, though few, are OK. What you see on the track does offer some very nice eye candy. My only real complaint is the effects can be pretty basic at times. Things like dust storms seem to be largely just an animation on the screen rather than actual weather patterns. The sound barrier breaks are decent, but I would have liked to see more on that front. Still, it’s a very solid effort all around.
Audio is quite nice. The music features some pretty solid tracks. This includes “Celldweller – Own Little World”, “The Dwarves – Accelerator”, “BT – GodSpeed”, and, of course, my personal favourite, the title music, “Liam Westbrook – The Rush”. Other tracks are generally pretty good as well, but those tracks are particularly memorable. Some games get the electronic tracks right while others simply get the rock tracks right. This one manages to get both right in the end. The addition of taunts from racers as well as the freaked out managers work quite well too. Then there’s the nice set of sound effects that go along with is all. So, an overall great effort here.
Overall, this is a very solid racing game. In an era where developers continue to gear themselves towards realistic and simulation racing, it’s nice to see some sci-fi futuristic racing thrown into the mix every once in a while. It’s like a breath of fresh air when the market gets saturated with Need for Speed and Gran Turismo games. While it may be a bit bare bones, the core mechanics are quite sound. The graphics are quite solid and the audio is great. So, a great effort all around.
Overall
Furthest point in game: Beat the game.
General gameplay: 20/25
Replay value: 7/10
Graphics: 7/10
Audio: 4/5
Overall rating: 76%
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
